OSPIRG Report Examines Credit Reporting Agencies

The OSPIRG Foundation today released a report "Big Credit Bureaus, Big Mistakes" examining Oregonians interactions with the three large credit reporting agencies, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

OSPIRG gleaned its information from a federal consumer complaint database.

Here are the report's primary findings:

Oregon ranks 18th in complaints per 100,000 residents. Residents of the District of Columbia were most likely to complain.· The most complained-about credit reporting agency in Oregon is Equifax.· By far, the most common problem was incorrect information on a credit report, which accounted for 65 percent of complaints.· The CFPB has helped enable nearly 3,000 consumers, or 30 percent of total complainants, to receive relief such as fixing incorrect information on a credit report or refunding service charges or fees related to credit reporting.· The ‘big three’ nationwide credit reporting agencies (NCRAs) — Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian — varied widely in how they responded to complaints. Equifax responded to 63 percent of its complaints with non-monetary relief, while Experian did so in only 5 percent of cases and TransUnion in 22 percent. Equifax provided monetary or non-monetary relief nearly three times as often as TransUnion and more than 10 times as often as Experian.· Consumers disputed the companies’ responses to about 18 percent of all complaints.